1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to inflatable bags and more specifically to an apparatus and method for the automated manufacture of self-sealing inflatable dunnage bags, which greatly reduces the complexity of the inflatable bag.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art of inflatable dunnage bags to fill a bag structure with air and then heat seal the bag to retain the air therein. However, the dunnage bag is typically complicated or the machinery used to produce and fill the dunnage bag with air is also complicated. A complicated dunnage bag will require complicated machinery to fill thereof. A complicated dunnage bag inflation machine will not always produce a consistent product, due to the complexity of the machine and also variations in the sheet material used to produce the dunnage bag.
Typically, a manufacturer of inflatable dunnage bags provides a customer with bag filling machines at no cost and sells the inflatable dunnage bags to the customer. Any problems with the bag filling machine is the manufacturer's responsibility and expense. It is to the manufacturer's advantage to have the simplest and most inexpensive bag filling machines to produce the inflatable dunnage bags. Having inexpensive bag filling machinery makes it possible to sell the inflatable dunnage bags to smaller companies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,828 to Becker et al. discloses an inflatable foil sachet, especially for packaging purposes. The Becker et al. patent includes a foil sachet with at least one chamber consisting of an upper and lower foil secured together by a closed seam. In order to fill the chambers with a substance, especially air, there is a channel having channel sections opening in the region of a seam and preferably in the region of the corner of the chamber concerned where there is an aperture in said chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,235 to Pharo discloses a bag with squeeze valve and method for packaging an article therein. The Pharo patent includes an inflatable package adapted to be formed into a packaging system for retaining an article therein is formed with a pair of overlying inner panels defining a pocket therebetween adapted to retain an article therein an inflating portion for communicating through the overlying inner panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,444,795 to Yasuhira discloses a gas seal-in method for a bag with a gas filling compartment and packaging method for a bag with a gas filling compartment. The Yasuhira patent includes a method of sealing-in a gas in a gas filling compartment of a bag having a cut-in formed near the upper edge of the gas filling compartment.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for an apparatus and method for the automated manufacture of self-sealing inflatable dunnage bags, which provides a three layer inflatable dunnage bag that may be filled without the use of complicated bag filling machinery.